Glass Sector Outraged as Defra Locks In 2025 Packaging Producer Fees

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has published the base fees for this year’s extended producer responsibility (EPR) scheme on packaging. While the EPR scheme is designed to make companies accountable for the full lifecycle of their packaging, including end-of-life recycling and disposal, its newly released weight-based fee structure has triggered frustration, particularly among glass manufacturers.

The EPR’s core aim is to encourage better product and packaging design by placing financial responsibility on those who place packaging materials on the market. The new fees, administered by the recently appointed body PackUK, will sit on top of other regulatory charges and recycling compliance costs already in place across the UK.

The base fees vary depending on the material type. They are calculated using a straightforward method: divide the overall cost of managing household packaging waste by the total weight of household packaging that ends up on the market. The final figures are then presented as pounds per tonne.

Here's the breakdown of 2025–2026 rates:

• Aluminium: £266 per tonne

• Fibre-based composite: £461 per tonne

• Glass: £192 per tonne

• Paper and card: £196 per tonne

• Plastic: £423 per tonne

• Steel: £259 per tonne

• Wood: £280 per tonne

• Other materials: £259 per tonne

These base rates build on the indicative figures released back in December 2024. Those earlier figures were based only on data submitted during the first half of 2024. The new rates incorporate data from the full year and also reflect updated estimates for missing tonnage and local authority costs, adjustments made in response to industry feedback.

Looking ahead, large producers will need to submit updated packaging data for the period from 1 January to 30 June 2025. That data, due by 1 October 2025, will be used to calculate the next round of fees for 2026–2027. Those future fees will place a greater emphasis on how recyclable each type of packaging is.

Why Glass Manufacturers Are Upset:

Not all packaging materials are being treated equally under the scheme. Single-use PET plastic, aluminium, and steel drinks containers between 150 millilitres and three litres are being left out of the EPR fee structure. That’s because they will fall under a separate policy: the upcoming Deposit Return Scheme (DRS), set to launch in October 2027.

The DRS will ask consumers to pay a small deposit when they buy drinks, which they’ll get back upon returning the empty packaging for proper recycling. While Defra has promised to coordinate both the EPR and DRS schemes to avoid duplication, glass manufacturers are unconvinced.

Many in the glass sector argue that they are being unfairly burdened by the EPR fees while other materials, like PET and aluminium, are getting a regulatory break under the DRS. They warn that this imbalance could put them at a competitive disadvantage, increasing costs and potentially pushing some out of the market.

The conversation around how best to fund packaging waste management and who should bear the cost is far from over. But what’s clear is that the new EPR fee structure has added more fuel to an already heated debate.